Turkey Media Roundup (August 25)

[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Turkey and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Turkey Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to turkey@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]

English

Kurdish Politics and Peace Process

The Kurdish Movement`s Tragedy Etyen Mahçupyan argues that the HDP and the PKK are the primary obstacles to the peace and reconciliation process in Turkey.

Ankara: the New Capital of Jihad According to Mike Whitney, President Erdoğan is “the madman who is now Washington’s number one ally in its bloody war against Assad.”

The PKK and the Reconciliation Process Kılıç Buğra Kanat claims that the discrepancies between the different factions of the Kurdish political movement are the primary cause of the disruption of the peace process in Turkey.

Faking Politics in Turkey According to Nuray Mert, the “governing ideology” in Turkey posits the Turkish government as the leader of an Islamic umma as a project of “faking politics.”

Turkey: The Land of Permanent Elections (1) - (2) Mustafa Akyol suggests that the early elections may lead voters to further punish the AKP for its authoritarian tendencies, and subsequently vote for one of the opposition parties.

Critical Codes of the İncirlik Deal Verda Özer interviews US presidential envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition and the deputy assistant secretary of state Brett McGurk regarding the deal between Turkey and the US to reopen the İncirlik Air Base.

Saray’daki Sultan’ın korkusu barış! (1) - (2) Hasan Cemal argues that Erdoğan stopped the peace process to avoid losing power and being accountable for his crimes; and appeals to the PKK to announce a unilateral ceasefire.

Vicdansızlıkta son aşama: Tabuta dayanarak oy istemek Hakan Aksay states that Erdoğan’s use of nationalistic discourse surrounding the death of soldiers is aimed at gaining support for AKP and his presidential ambitions, but will not succeed in attaining these aims.

Çıkış yolu, savaş=kriz=Erdoğan diyen CHP-HDP’dir According to Erdem Yörük, the way to end the Erdogan regime is the CHP and HDP declaring plans to construct an country where there is no discrimination, war, or crises in their election campaigns.

“Üzülüyoruz ama ümitsiz değiliz” Ayşe Yırcalı and Etyen Mahçupyan report from different segments of Diyarbakır about perceptions towards the AKP and PKK following the armistice.

PKK tuzağa mı düştü? Amberin Zaman thinks that the PKK might be increasing the scale of insurrection to provide the AKP a glimpse of what might happen if it continues to implement its anti-Kurd policies.

"Yeni Türkiye"de "katliam" korkuları... Cengiz Çandar thinks Erdoğan’s strategic actions to void the June elections, the subsequent assaults in Kurdish cities, and the KCK’s democratic autonomy announcement in return rendered an atmosphere in the region where people are facing the threat of a massacre.

Kürdistan`i harabeye çevirmek Mücahit Bilici of John Jay College at the City University of New York, calls out to the PKK to stop the clashes in the cities and create space for civil and democratic mobilization towards peace and a resolution of the Kurdish issue.

Kürt cephesinde olanları anlamlandırmak Murat Belge thinks that the actions of the Kurdish side are driven by an internal conflict within the Kurdish movement, and that the HDP should be supported as the only alternative to conventional politics with or without arms.

Barış mücadelesi Nazan Üstündağ writes that Kurds and Turks must work together to oppose the war, as women’s lives and bodies have always most affected by wars and violence.

Asker ve polis aileleri haklı Hüseyin Ali finds Erdoğan responsible for the deaths of soldiers and policemen, arguing that he finished the peace process just for his own interests and ambitions and for punishing the public who voted for the HDP.

HDP’yi tasfiye planı Şaban İba reports that citizens living in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey are deciding on self-government in the face of war and the AKP’s political and military attacks.

Edep Sevda Karaca talks about the link between the “mannerisms, morality, and Islamic sciences” courses offered at state dormitories, and the exposure of the naked body of a Kurdish guerilla by members of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Early Election Talks

Bir seçime el koymak Murat Yetkin argues that ending the coalition talks before the forty-five-day period and starting the early election process simply means hijacking the outcome of the June elections.

Tayyip Erdoğan düşmanlığı, öyle mi? Levent Gültekin describes pro-Erdoğan columnists and commentators as having “such loyalty that is worthy of a dog that approves of each and every act that Erdoğan does.”

AKP seçimden ne bekliyor? Murat Birdal thinks that the pressures on the HDP will be increased, election campaigns will be prevented, and candidates will face constraints in an early election context.

Seçimlerin hükmü According to Hüsnü Öndül, people want a broadening of rights and freedoms, not the continuation of the authoritarian/totalitarian tendency, unlike what AKP politicians think.

Bahçeli ve MHP`yi anlamak Writing from his prison cell, Mehmet Baransu argues that Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the MHP, rejected all coalition plans in order not to fall prey to Erdoğan’s plans for the early elections he himself formed right after the election defeat.

Bakın Erdoğan istese neler yapabilir? Murat Yetkin talks about the relatively unknown constitutional rights of the president,by which Erdoğan has the authority to announce a state of emergency in any region of Turkey, and drag the country into war in the absence of a government.

Sistem değişti mi? Yüksel Taşkın states that Erdoğan’s insistence on turning the parliamentary system to a presidential one, despite lack of public consent, is eroding the AKP’s credibility in the eyes of the electorate.

Devletin karanlık yüzü: JİTEM Ayşe Hür inquires into the revived involvement of JİTEM—Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, which was involved in covert and illegal activities in the Kurdish conflict throughout the 1990s—in some of the recent armed attacks for which no organization claims responsibility.

Adıyaman`ın Alevileri Ali Kenanoğlu reports from Adıyaman, a city in the east of Turkey where ISIS is known to be powerful, about the sectarian tensions between Alevis and Sunnis.